Bangladesh protest Turkey’s reaction

Daily Dhaka Times : Bangladesh government protest at Turkey’s statement on the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali, saying such reaction is tantamount to interference in internal matters of a sovereign country.

The foreign affairs ministry issued a note verbale to the Turkish embassy in Dhaka and conveyed Dhaka’s disappointment at the Turkish government’s statement on the execution of Mir Quasem.

“This also doesn’t help foster bilateral relations that exist between the two brotherly countries,” the note read.

It elaborated the crimes perpetrated by Mir Quasem Ali in 1971 liberation war.

The note added that the Jamaat leader was involved in the offences of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including planning, instigating and executing genocide, murder, abduction and torture in Chittagong during the liberation war of 1971.

Dhaka reiterated that the verdicts on the war crimes trials including that of Quasem had been handed down through an independent, fair and transparent judicial process, with full access given to national and international media.

Turkish foreign ministry in a statement on Sunday said, “We’ve learned with sorrow that the death sentence issued by the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh against Mir Quasem Ali, has been executed in Bangladesh.”

Turkey insisted once again that the “wounds of the past cannot be healed with these methods and hope that this wrong practice will not lead to separation among the brotherly people of Bangladesh.”

Before Turkey, Pakistan expressed its sadness over the Quasem execution, terming the trial a “flawed judicial process”.